4 ms·

When dealing with a corporation, I can dump their services and go with a competitor. When dealing with a government, there are no competitors. You are automatic

When dealing with a corporation, I can dump their services and go with a competitor. When dealing with a government, there are no competitors. You are automatically in their jurisdiction.

cwp 14y ago
Not true. Placing yourself in the jurisdiction of a competing government is just a matter of going there. People do it all the time.
- aeturnum 14y ago
  Point taken, though it's generally a lot easier to buy a competing product than to move to a competing country.
revscat 14y ago
Unless they all agree, either through collusion or informal cooperation, to anti-consumer practices and to shut out smaller competitors. I'd much rather take my chances with democracy.
thisrod 14y ago
I can dump their services and go with a competitor Says who? Or, more to the point, whose army? When the corporations that hold your email and bank statements refuse to be dumped, you'll need someone to break into their server rooms, wipe their hard drives, and arrest or shoot anyone who resists. I want those people to obey the law, and be under democratic control.
- dmix 14y ago
  How exactly could an email provider or bank legally prevent me from using another provider by holding back my information? If I opted into using their service and agreed to their TOS that included them keeping my data. Then thats my fault. But if they act maliciously, them having my data is hardly going to keep me from continuing to use their service.
  - adityab 14y ago
    > If I opted into using their service and agreed to their TOS that included them keeping my data. Then thats my fault. You forget that all service providers have these TOS. You don't have a choice. > Them having my data is hardly going to keep me from continuing to use their service. If you've been using a Gmail account for several years, good luck closing it if you don't want to lose future emails sent to that address.

When dealing with a corporation, I can dump their services and go with a competitor. When dealing with a government, there are no competitors. You are automatically in their jurisdiction.

cwp 14y ago

Not true. Placing yourself in the jurisdiction of a competing government is just a matter of going there. People do it all the time.

aeturnum 14y ago
Point taken, though it's generally a lot easier to buy a competing product than to move to a competing country.

revscat 14y ago

Unless they all agree, either through collusion or informal cooperation, to anti-consumer practices and to shut out smaller competitors. I'd much rather take my chances with democracy.

thisrod 14y ago

I can dump their services and go with a competitor Says who? Or, more to the point, whose army? When the corporations that hold your email and bank statements refuse to be dumped, you'll need someone to break into their server rooms, wipe their hard drives, and arrest or shoot anyone who resists. I want those people to obey the law, and be under democratic control.

dmix 14y ago
How exactly could an email provider or bank legally prevent me from using another provider by holding back my information? If I opted into using their service and agreed to their TOS that included them keeping my data. Then thats my fault. But if they act maliciously, them having my data is hardly going to keep me from continuing to use their service.
- adityab 14y ago
  > If I opted into using their service and agreed to their TOS that included them keeping my data. Then thats my fault. You forget that all service providers have these TOS. You don't have a choice. > Them having my data is hardly going to keep me from continuing to use their service. If you've been using a Gmail account for several years, good luck closing it if you don't want to lose future emails sent to that address.